All the best...

best night: too many to count, but exec mystery dinner is up there
best date night: walmart midnight date party with mr. cochran
best date: little conner on new years eve- five months old is perfect
best date to come: daniel langford- he owes me
best funny moment: tillman destroying the my little pony display in walmart completely by accident at date party
best not-so-funny-until-later-moment: lily and danielle pushing leeann and I into the lake
best interview: that would be mark gold, hands down
best weekend: spencer leadership conference in dallas
best week: campaign week
best girl time: lily and carly in new york
best trip: italy with the family
best roadtrip: fishaide ski trip
best surprise: making exec council
best news: lee ann's engagment
best baby: steph's
best dinner: every night in new york, but particularly tony's
best cupcake: magnolia bakery in west village
best cheesecake: vernerio's
best ice cream: mary's in grenwich
best song: home by michael buble
best new cd: x&y by coldplay
best new movie: pride and prejudice
best shoes: black four inch bcbg heels from macys
best city: new york, of course
best city in texas: dallas
best late night conversation: carl, sarah, will, and tillman
best coffee shop conversation: jenn leftwich
best record length conversations: sam webb
best study partner ever: carly
best late night study support: carter- thanks for the endless coffee and peanut mms.
best blog: emily
best xanga: colten or hunter
best photos: hunter

This semester in photos.

If you're interested, this link has almost every photo I've taken this semester...

http://tamu.facebook.com/photos.php?id=8331075&l=719db

Doing nothing...

Let's see... this is the first time in almost a year that I haven't had every minute of my day scheduled. I think I am going to make a habit this break of doing absolutely nothing. Of course, doing absolutely nothing for me is merely planning the calendar and events for FishAides in the spring, working at the gift shop I've worked at for years, cooking, shopping, and getting ready for Christmas. But I have managed to play a few rounds of spades, watch a few movies, read about five books, and sleep more than usual. It's been lovely....

But so has this semester. Although classes were extremely hard, I now know never to take twelve hours of honors classes and three of regular. It just takes so much time and kills your GPA. Remind me not to do that again.

Exec Council has been great albeit way more work than I ever envisioned. I learn so much just from watching the other older (and much wiser) Exec Council members, particularly the lovely Crystal Y'Barbo. If I could be anything like her... wow.

Spencer Leadership Conference. If I hadn't had that weekend away with some of my best friends, I think I might have gone insane. It was wonderful to learn... something other than school... and be forced to forget about everything else for a few days.

FishAides. It would take pages just to begin everything I have loved and learned about that this year. First and foremost, the exec team is more than I could have ever hoped for. They have become my best friends. They have been there to laugh, to cry, to encourage, and so much more. I love those five. And our freshmen. Adorable in every way. Getting to know some of them has challenged me to grow in so many ways and I can't wait until spring to get to know them even more.

Life has been hard, but so good. It's a lot easier looking back now that is over. Next semester there is so much potential, and I am only praying that it will reach it. We'll see. Until then, I'm going to do... wait... nothing?

A perfect December night...

Daniel, Paige, me, Jennifer, and Derek at my house for some hot chocolate after Santa's Wonderland.

Perfection in a photograph... Could it get any better?

Remembering.

Finals craziness is in full swing for me at least. I am making that final push to achieve perfect grades... so I am locked in my house for another three days. Not that I really want to be anywhere else right now as it is about 28 degress outside. Perfect.

And in the middle of this battle for grades, of all things, I am remembering that there are more important things in life. Last night the FishAides were able to give seven children whose parents are in jail and are being raised by their grandparents a Christmas that they could never have imagined. We gave the children, ages 5- 15, some of their presents last night and took them to Gattitown for an evening of fun.

I loved seeing our freshman go far above and beyond what they ever needed to do and put endless time and money into their gifts for these children. I think that we gain easily as much as the children do from the entire experience. We have so much to be grateful for and to enjoy, and last night was just a vivid reminder of that.

Christmas dance.

Carly and I at the Abbott Christmas Party.

a beautiful day...

Be glad of life,
because it gives you the chance to love and to work
and to play and to look up at the stars;
to be satisfied with your posessions;
to despise nothing except falsehood and meanness,
and to fear nothing except cowardice;
to be governed by your admirations rather than your disgusts;
to covet nothing that is your neighbor's except his kindness of heart
and gentleness of manners;
to think seldom of your enemies and often your friends...
and to spend as much time as you can with body and spirit.
These are little guideposts on the footpath to peace.

Be glad of life,
because it gives you people to laugh with and to cry with
to dance in the sun and spin in the wind with
to run barefoot through grassy fields and to sing with free abandon
to know the joys of life... and to realize they are meant to be shared.